Company suspends exec accused of slapping child on Delta flight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Posted: 1:13 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013
A company president accused of slapping a crying child on a Delta Air Lines flight to Atlanta has been suspended, the parent company confirmed Saturday.
Joe Rickey Hundley, president of UNITECH Composites and Structures in Hayden, Idaho, faces a federal assault charge after he allegedly slapped the 2-year-old when his mother was unable to quiet the child as their plane approached Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Feb. 8, according to federal criminal complaint.
“We are taking this matter seriously,” said Al Haase, president and chief executive officer of AGC Aerospace and Defense, Composites Group, said in a statement. UNITEC is a division of AGC. “In accordance with our company’s personal conduct policy, we have suspended the employee pending investigation.”
USA Today points out that...
http://www.usatoday.com/...
Jessica Bennett, of Minneapolis, told authorities her 2-year-old son, Jonah, began crying because of the altitude change as the plane was descending last Friday night, according to an FBI agent's affidavit. She said Hundley, who was sitting next to them in the back of the plane, slapped the boy with an open hand, causing a scratch under his right eye.
Bennett said Hundley then used a racial epithet and told her to quiet her child.
Several passengers intervened, and one told the FBI he heard Hundley use "derogatory language" and saw him slap the boy.
Consequences for assaulting a child, with overt racism on top?
Let's hope so.
Cheers.